In upstream oil and gas supply applications, oil is stored in a variety of storage tanks. During the transport of the oil from the tank to the upstream application, flammable gasses may be generated which are burned off by gas flares or flare stacks. At times, the velocity of vapors flowing towards the flare may be low enough to allow the flame from the flare to travel into the pipe in the opposite direction. Potentially catastrophic failures may occur if the flame is allowed to reach the storage tank.
Additionally, damaging detonations may occur in which the flame rapidly propagates the flow path in a manner resembling a shockwave. These detonations are oftentimes caused by turbulence-creating geometries such as bends, sharp turns, and other interruptions to the flow path.
To mitigate this risk, flame or deflagration arrestors may be implemented and disposed between the storage tank and the gas flare. In the event that a flame propagates towards the storage tank, these flame arrestors block the flame from further advancing to the storage tank. However, these flame arrestors have a limited useful life and their performance can be compromised upon being exposed to flames for extended periods of time. Further, these flame arrestors may not be suitable to contain or limit flames caused by detonations due to their rapid propagation. Further still, when employed in remote locations, these flame arrestors may be difficult to inspect, thus any degradation in quality may not be realized. In other examples, early detection equipment such as temperature detection sensors and the like are also frequently used in these environments. However, this equipment may experience similar pitfalls due to being positioned in remote locations.